


Terms of Passage

by TottWriter



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fantasy AU, Forests, Haikyuu Fantasy Week 2018, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 18:05:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14431173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TottWriter/pseuds/TottWriter
Summary: Around him, Tadashi heard the sounds of animals stirring, venturing out once more on their daily quests for food and survival. In a way, he envied them their simple lives. In another, he pitied them deeply. Winter was on its way, and with it came the leanest times. Life would get far more challenging for these creatures then.He sighed, hanging his head and then tucking errant strands of hair behind his ear. It was getting long. Past time for a trim, really—not that he would. Not yet.Not long now,he told himself.I’m getting closer.Alone and almost silent, Tadashi marches through the forest. Strict rules guide his every step - the conditions for a trade with the spirit of the forest itself.





	Terms of Passage

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the HQ Fantasy Week, Day 4. The prompt was "Forest", and this whole fic was written to have a quiet atmosphere, so to really get the feel of it, I recommend listening to [this](https://youtu.be/7WPsftkv1ZY) while reading.

Late afternoon. The rain was petering out. Weak sunlight filtered through the canopy overhead, and the air was fresh and quiet; silence yet unbroken save for the steady drip of water making its way groundward. All around rose the rich, heady scent of damp earth, with a faint trace of slowly composting leaves and wood.

It was the kind of silence in which the forest’s inhabitants still held their breath against one last shower: birds remained under leaf, small scuttling creatures cowered in their burrows or beneath makeshift shelter.

Tucked beneath a rocky overhang with his bow unstrung, Tadashi inhaled deeply. He smiled.

“Storm’s passed, Tsukki,”

There was no answer. There wouldn’t be, of course. His partner was long past talking, even if he hadn’t been miles away. Half-consciously he reached up to touch the small talisman around his neck. The twine was wearing thin—he’d have to replace it when he could. If he lost it… Well. He couldn’t lose it, that was all.

A bird sang. High sweet notes filled the air—first herald of the afternoon. Right on cue a breeze picked up, rustling the overhead branches and sending a cascade of raindrops rattling down.

Around him, Tadashi heard the sounds of animals stirring, venturing out once more on their daily quests for food and survival. In a way, he envied them their simple lives. In another, he pitied them deeply. Winter was on its way, and with it came the leanest times. Life would get far more challenging for these creatures then.

He sighed, hanging his head and then tucking errant strands of hair behind his ear. It was getting long. Past time for a trim, really—not that he would. Not yet.

_Not long now_ , he told himself. _I’m getting closer._

There was no sense wishing he could string his bow. Close as he might be compared with how far he had already come, there was a long march ahead of him yet.

“Time to go, I guess,” he murmured. There couldn’t be all that much of the afternoon left. He might as well make the most of it.

The forest was dense. Bushes and saplings grew between the taller trees, with clumps of wildflowers nestled here and there where the light permitted. Moss and lichen covered most of the trunks and lower branches. Ivy wound its way up occasional trees and wove itself into tangles which stole much of the second-hand light that filtered through the canopy. Everywhere, water dripped down—on and on towards the leaf litter which crunched or squelched beneath Tadashi’s feet.

He wore no shoes. It was part of the conditions of his coming, but he didn’t mind their loss. With bare feet it was easier to keep his balance on the occasional log, or judge where the mud was too boggy to take his weight without sinking too deep to easily extract himself.

The dappled sunlight faded to greyness after another hour or so and the rain picked up once more, but this time Tadashi walked on. It took a few minutes for the droplets to make their way in any number through the leafy forest roof, and the weather was not so cold that getting doused would do him much harm.

Now and again, far off in the undergrowth he made out the sounds of movement. Deer, perhaps, or other woodland creatures. Always he paused a moment—waiting—and moved on only when the silence returned. He made little noise himself: with bare feet he avoided sticks and leaf piles, picking his way across the mud of the forest floor and leaving only the faintest footprints in his wake.

As the rain fell more in earnest the birdsong died out, leaving just a steady patter to fill the air. Tadashi resisted the urge to hum—another condition—and walked on. Only storms and nightfall could halt his progress through the trees.

It was at twilight, just before he would have stopped for the night and made such camp as the conditions allowed, that the Sign appeared. A small deer, no higher than his knee, and almost normal save for the way the speckled pattern upon its back glowed faintly blue. It emerged from the bushes in front of him just as Tadashi had unfurled his bedroll, and nibbled at the undergrowth.

_~Follow~_ the wind whispered in his ears, even as the deer sprang away.

There was no time to pack his things. No time to string his bow, even if it hadn’t been forbidden. All he could do was grab the useless weapon from the ground, and check that the talisman still hung from its twine around his neck.

Then he was off: walking as quickly as he dared in the near darkness; wincing every time he stepped upon a stone or twig; pushing ever faster through thick undergrowth after the small cluster of blue lights leading the way. The bow was useful in part; it served well to push branches aside and hold back thorns. Even so, Tadashi was scratched and sore before the little deer scampered into another thicket and the lights vanished completely.

By now the darkness was near complete. The rain had stopped sometime during his chase, but there was no light for songbirds, and the woods were silent. No insects creaked or chirped. The only sound was the wind, and it merely rustled the leaves above and below him. It did not speak.

He straightened from the tired crouch he had sunk into, and clasped the bow and the talisman, waiting. Patience. He would need patience.

But patience on tired legs was too much, really it was. Rather than stay standing and fall, he sank down, crossing his legs in front of him and laying the still-useless bow atop them. Had he filled all the conditions? He thought so. He had been careful, so _very_ careful. He had come barefoot and songless, with no fire to bite the wood of this realm, and a weapon made peaceful except against the greatest foe. Nothing but storms and darkness had hindered him, and he had killed no creature within the forest itself.

If this was not enough, nothing would be.

The wind picked up, teasing at his hair and pulling further strands from the band which had held some of it back from his face. It hummed, a long, continuous note much as he had heard as it whipped around buildings during a storm.

_~You have come far~_ it whispered, dying down to a gentle breeze.

There was light now, although the deer had not returned. Above, the moon was full and had escaped the clouds left over from the afternoon’s rain. Light filled what Tadashi slowly realised was a small clearing; the canopy above parting in a near-perfect circle. At its centre, just a few feet away, was a small dip in the ground. The wind eddied there, twirling the leaves and woodland debris.

Tadashi swallowed. “I’d go further,” he said flatly, staring at the leaves.

_~You have honoured the compact~_

“I would not break it, not until my dying breath.”

There were words he had been told to say, words he had been told to avoid, but they were gone from his mind as he sat there, all preparation lost thanks to the marvel before him. The small funnel of leaves grew larger, lit now by the tiny glow of insects flying around and caught within it. Two larger lights spiralled within the vortex. One was clear and strong; the other flickered, faint and obviously weak.

_~You seek aid~_

This time Tadashi did not speak, but merely nodded. Nothing he said could be good enough in response.

_~And what price will you pay, for the gift we would give you?~_

He straightened. It was now or never.

“Name your price and I will pay it. I don’t care what it costs me.”

The wind rose, whirling and whirling around him. It seemed to laugh in his ears as it rushed by, twirling his hair and teasing at his clothes. The talisman around his neck flapped and it took every bit of his willpower to hold his hands by his side and not reach up to clutch at it.

_~A dangerous game. There is much we could ask. Much you would regret losing.~_

“I know,” Tadashi said, closing his eyes, The wind bit into his skin, cold and harsh, and the scrapes and cuts from the bushes stung. Leaves and twigs filled the air, striking him, and the hum of the wind’s call rose up, loud enough that he half imagined that the wind would not hear the rest of his words:

“It doesn’t _matter_ what it costs me. Please, bring him back. Let him wake.”

The twine snapped, and with another tug of the wind the talisman was gone. Tadashi’s eyes snapped open in time to see it fly into the centre of a funnel of leaves and twigs and lights, whirling around and around. The vortex pulled at him, tugging him forwards now rather than battering him. His loose hair whipped at his face and eyes but he almost didn’t notice, too busy watching the tiny stone talisman shoot up the funnel into the light of the full moon.

“ _Please_ ,” he whispered to the roaring tornado. “Whatever it costs, I’ll pay it.”

The wind stopped abruptly. Leaves and twigs rained down, and the cloud of fireflies—apparently unharmed—dispersed into the night. The talisman landed in the centre of the hollow with a faint _thud_.

There was a dead calm. No leaves rustled overhead, no animals made sounds. Tadashi found himself holding his breath.

A twig snapped. Leaves crunched. Finally a stag appeared, trailed by the small, speckled deer which had led him to the clearing. That or another identical to it.

The deer did not glow. It did not speak, or appear magical in any form. It was every bit the same as the stags Tadashi had seen hundreds of times—had _hunted_ on many occasions, but it did not baulk, and met his gaze head on for a long moment, before bowing its head. The little deer beside it apparently felt no such compulsion, walking across the clearing to nibble at another leaf.

_~The price is twofold~_ whispered a sudden wind. _~A payment now and a debt to be owed. Heed the calling when it rises, and trust the instincts you shall gain. Now sleep, and awaken once the payment is made.~_

 

* * *

 

Tadashi awoke suddenly, finding himself in his bedroll. Not only that, he was surrounded by land he recognised, near the boundary of the sacred wood but not quite outside it. Close by was the shrine marking the furthest point into the forest anyone could tread without following strict conditions of passage.

Leaves were falling. The canopy above was tinged with gold and red, and there was a nip in the air which hadn’t been there before.

_~You have paid.~_ whispered the wind, gently. _~A moon’s worth of time which you shall never recall. But it is a price which must be paid by both of you. Even as you have paid with the autumn solstice, his debt will be repaid with the spring’s.~_

Tadashi stared down at his hands, and then at his belongings. Everything was there. His clothes seemed to be a little more worn, and his hair a touch longer, but he felt well; complete. A sudden confidence filled him, and before he could hold back he asked:

“Must he pay the price alone?”

The leaves danced around him, and the wind laughed in his ear. _~Many have paid this price, out of obligation or duty. It has been an age or more since it was paid twice over.~_

“I…If he’s back, I don’t want to be apart. Not for a whole month. I’ll gladly pay again if it means that we’re together.”

For long minutes there was silence but for the rustling of leaves. Tadashi wondered if he had pushed his luck too far, or asked for too much, when:

_~We cannot prevent your passage, if you follow the conditions correctly,~_ the wind replied. _~But you will see much not meant for mortal eyes. It will change you, forever.~_

Tadashi hung his head, and found himself reaching for the talisman. Against all his expectations it was still there, strung on a thin, unfamiliar cord. He rubbed it thoughtfully, and set his face.

“I said I’d pay any price,” he said at last, getting to his feet. “I’m not going to back out now.”

The wind picked up, rustling the leaves such that they almost sounded like laughter. Debris from the forest floor swirled up in eddies around his feet.

_~He will come to the forest by the spring equinox.~_ the wind told him. _~We shall see then how well you hold to your claim.~_

**Author's Note:**

> ...Someone talk me out of writing a sequel to this. I _don't have time,_ I swear. 
> 
> Anyways, if you want to yell at me about either this fic or any of my others, you can nab me over on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/TottWritesFic) or [Tumblr](http://tottwritesfanfic.tumblr.com/)!


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